Hoosier State Today

There were 69 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending June 5, a 6.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 5, there were 1,249 deaths in the state. 22.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.3 percent were from cancer and 10.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.9 percent of deaths were from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Heart disease	279	308
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	254	238
Cerebrovascular diseases	70	53
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	70	74
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	69	74
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	60	62
Diabetes mellitus	40	31
Alzheimer's disease	40	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	23	22
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Alzheimer disease and dementia	99	104